He’s described as a “brooding, irritable loner”. And, being a brooding, irritable loner myself, I’m naturally curious to see how they script this particular life. After all, so much that passes for a life is embedded in a narrative embedded in a sequences of experiences and relationships that we only have so much understanding of and control over.
So the fact that he is what he is [and not what we would be in the same set of circumstances] can only be so much his fault. And it’s always where different folks draw the line drawn here between “me” and “him” and “we” and “them” that so many actual lives become entangled.
And then it’s being able to recognize the implications of this or not.
Still, where things always get tricky for brooding, irriable loners is [in the movies] when out of the blue they find themselves “obligated” to reconnect with the family. In other words, with the past. Then it is only a matter of whether by the end of the film they remain brooding, irritable loners; or, instead, find one or another road to redemption.
So, first of all, we have to come to an understanding as to why and how he became this brooding, irritable loner in the first place. And here we all have our own unique trajectory. Existential as it were. The turning point for him however revolves almost entirely around the truly horrific death of his three children. And the fact that it was his fault.
In other words, there are some fuck ups so grievous you can never bounce back from them.
From my perspective, this is a film that explores just how problematic and unpredictable and precarious our lives can become when we find oursleves interacting with others in a world that can come at us from all directions. Sometimes the pieces will all fall [fit] into place, but many times [or most times for some] they simply don’t and won’t. And yet everyone still sees you through their own set of assumptions about good and bad, right and wrong behavior.
Bottom line: If you like films where all the pieces stay pretty much grim from beginning to end then you might like this one. There is some light at the end of the tunnel here but one suspects that this particular loner will never quite reach it.
And then one by one we have to decide for ourselves if he even deserves to.
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancheste … Sea(film
trailer: youtu.be/gsVoD0pTge0
IMDb
[b]The town was called Manchester until 1989, when resident Edward Corley led a highly controversial campaign to formally change its name to Manchester-by-the-Sea. The action was passed by the state legislature that year.
While portrayed as working class and blue collar, Manchester-by-the Sea is actually a very upscale and affluent town.[/b]
Manchester By The Sea [2016]
Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan
[b]Lee: Listen. If there was… If you could take one guy to an island with you and you knew you’d be safe 'cause he was the best man, he was going to figure out how to survive, he was going to make everything, he was going to make the world a good place on the island, he was going to keep you happy, he, he… This is the best man for the job. No matter what, if it was between me and your father, who would you take?
Patrick [as a boy]: My daddy.
…
Mr Emery: What the fuck’s the matter with you? You can’t talk to the tenants like that. Look, Lee, you do good work. You’re dependable. But I get these complaints all the time. You’re rude, you’re unfriendly, you won’t say good morning.
Lee: I mean, come on. Mr. Emery, I fix the plumbing. I take out the garbage. I paint their apartments. I do electrical work, which we both know is against the law. I show up on time, I’m working four buildings, and you’re getting all the money. So do whatever you’re going to do.
Mr. Emery: Would you be willing to apologize to Mrs. Olsen?
Lee: For what?
Mr. Emery: All right, all right, I’ll talk to her.
…
Dr. Bethany: But it’s not a good disease.
Joe [after a pause]: What is a good disease?
Dr. Bethany: Poison lvy?
Lee: Athlete’s foot.
…
Lee [reading his brother’s will]: I don’t understand.
Lawyer: Which… part are you having trouble with?
Lee: Well, I can’t be his guardian.
Lawyer: Well… Uh…
Lee: I mean I can’t.
…
Randi: Lee, you want to get these fucking pinheads out of my house please?
Lee: Yeah, I do. I mean, I really do.
[Randi walks away]
Lee [jokingly to his friends]: She can’t talk to us that way.
[they all laugh raucously]
Randi [who walks back to them]: I’m not fucking around. It’s 2:00 in the fucking morning. Get these fucking assholes dressed and get them the fuck out of here!!
…
Lee [at an interview with the police]: We were partying pretty hard. There was beer. And someone was passing around a joint and there was cocaine.
Detective: Cocaine?
Lee: Yes.
Detective: Okay, go ahead.
Lee: Uh, anyway, our bedroom is in the downstairs, and the kids sleep upstairs, so Randi makes everyone leave around 2:00… or three AM. And then… she goes back to bed. So, I go upstairs to check on the kids, and it’s fucking freezing upstairs, but I can’t use the central heat because it dries out Randi’s sinuses, and she gives her really bad headaches. So I go downstairs and put a fire in the fireplace, and I sit down to watch TV, but there’s no more beer. I’m still jumping around like a jackrabbit. So I put a couple fire logs in the fire just to warm up the house when I was gone. And then I am going to the mini-mart, but I’m too wasted and I don’t want to drive. So I walk. It’s about 20 minutes each way. And about halfway there, and I can’t remember if I put the screen on the fireplace. I figure it’s okay. So I just keep going to the store. And, uh, that’s it. Log must’ve rolled out onto the floor. And the firemen said they pulled Randi out. She was passed out downstairs. And then the furnace blew, and they couldn’t go back in again. And that’s all I remember.
…
Manchester pedestrian: Great parenting.
Lee: What? What did you say?
Manchester pedestrian: I said great parenting.
Lee: Fuck you. Mind your fucking business, fucking asshole.
Patrick: Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, it’s okay.
Lee: I’m going to smash your fucking face, you fucking asshole.
Patrick: It’s okay, it’s okay. Thank you, thank you. It’s okay.
[the man walks on]
Patrick: Uncle Lee, are you fundamentally unsound?!!
…
Lee: Do you actually have sex with these girls?
Patrick: Well, we don’t just play computer games.
…
Patrick: How do you unbuckle this? I’m scraping the skin off my knuckles.
Sandy: Just take your hand out.
Patrick: Ow!
Sandy: Would you please just take your hand out of my cunt?!
…
Patrick: I’m not moving to Boston, Uncle Lee.
Lee: Well, I don’t want to talk about that right now.
Patrick: You said he left you money so you could move.
Lee: Yeah, but that doesn’t mean…
Patrick: Anyway, what’s in Boston? You’re a janitor.
Lee: So what?
Patrick: You could do that anywhere. There’s plenty of toilets and clogged-up drains all over town.
Lee: I don’t want to talk about it.
Patrick: All my friends are here. I’m on the hockey team. I’m on the basketball team. I got to maintain our boat now. I work on George’s boat two days a week. I got two girlfriends, and I’m in a band. You’re a janitor in Quincy. What the hell do you care where you live?
…
Lee [to Patrick after he has a panic attack]: If you’re gonna freak out every time you see a frozen chicken I think maybe we should go to the hospital. I don’t know anything about this.
…
Patrick: What happened to your hand?
Lee: I cut it.
Patrick: Oh, thanks. For a minute there, I didn’t know what happened.
…
Patrick: You were a tremendous help.
Lee: I didn’t ask to sit down there.
Patrick: You can’t make small talk? Like every other grown up in the world? You can’t talk about boring bullshit for half an hour?
Lee: No.
Patrick: Hey, how about those interest rates? I lost my Triple A card. Like everybody else?
Lee: No, sorry.
Patrick: You’re a fucking asshole.
…
Patrick [to Lee who is looking at Joe’s rack of rifles]: Who are you going to shoot? You or me?
…
Randi: I said a lot of terrible things to you.
Lee: No…
Randi: I know you never… Maybe you don’t wanna talk to me.
Lee: It’s not that…
Randi: Let me finish, let me finish. Whoever… My heart was broken, cause it’s always gonna be broken and I know yours is broken too. And I don’t have to carry it. I said things… I should fucking burn in hell for what I said to you.
Lee: No, no, no. Randi, no.
Randi: I’m just sorry.
Lee: It’s… I can’t expl… I can’t…
Randi: I love you! Maybe I shouldn’t say that.
Lee: You can say this. I’m sorry, I gotta go.
Randi: We could have lunch?
Lee: I’m really sorry, I don’t think so. I thank you for saying everything you just said.
Randi: You can’t just die!
Lee: I’m not. I’m not. And I want you to be happy, and I…
Randi: I see you walking around here, and I just wanna tell you…
Lee: I would want to talk to you, Randi. Please, I’ve uh… uh… I’m trying to…
Randi: Lee, Lee, you’ve got to… I don’t know what. I don’t wanna torture you.
Lee: This is not… You’re not… You’re not torturing me.
Randi: I just wanna tell you that I was wrong.
Lee: No. No. You don’t understand, there’s nothing… there’s nothing there. There’s nothing there.
Randi: That’s not true, that’s not true!
Lee: You don’t understand.
Randi: Yes I do.
Lee: You don’t see it. And I don’t know what to say. You don’t understand. I-I-I’ve gotta go. Sorry.
[he walks on]
Randi: I’m sorry.
…
Patrick: Why can’t you stay?
Lee: Come on, Patty. I can’t beat it. I can’t beat it. I’m sorry. [/b]